Police: Mom Spoke of Killing Her Kids

LOUISVILLE — A widowed mother accused of killing her children and taking a college counselor hostage at gunpoint spoke of a plan to kill her son and daughter the day before they were found dead, a police detective testified Monday.

Gail Coontz, 37, has pleaded not guilty to murder in the deaths of her children, whose bodies were found in their filthy home last week.

Coontz had mentioned killing her children, Greg, 14, and Nikki, 10, and herself to a friend who contacted police, Louisville police Detective Keith Roberts said during a probable cause hearing.

The friend "made the statement that if they threatened to take (Coontz's) kids away from her, (Coontz) would kill the kids and kill herself," Roberts testified.

Coontz has also pleaded not guilty to tampering with evidence and terroristic threatening. She is being held in jail on a $500,000 bond.

Her attorney, Mike Lemke, declined to comment on whether he would base a defense on her mental state.

Coontz sat expressionless throughout the 30-minute hearing. Afterward, the judge sent the case to a grand jury.

Roberts testified that police searched Coontz's home and found the bodies of her children in their bedrooms. Police found the home was messy and littered with large amounts of animal feces, Roberts said.

Coontz was arrested after she brandished a gun while speaking with a psychologist on the University of Louisville campus on March 27. Coontz had been a student there since 2006.

Roberts said Coontz showed up at the psychologist's office but was told there wasn't time for a meeting.

The psychologist then noticed that Coontz had a handgun, which prompted her to trip an alarm installed on her desk that alerted campus police, Roberts said. The psychologist asked police to check on Coontz's children, he testified.

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